By Paul Richards
On Sunday, October 2 NTV’s Bankisha news program aired a segment about the dangers of fixed gear bicycles on city streets. The reason for the program was the fatal accident last month in Shibuya caused by a fixed gear bicycle that had been stripped of its hand brakes. The Yomiuri Online reports that there are two other related deaths in Kanagawa Prefecture as well. In Japan, it is required by law for bicycles to have both front and rear brakes. It is punishable by a 50,000 yen fine. Police have recently stepped up their vigilance in ticketing offenders. Last month, in Nagoya, a company employee was given a “Red Ticket” (aka kippu) and most notably, comedian Fukuda Mitsunori, 36, of the comedy team Tutorial, received a ticket for riding a piste bike without brakes on October 28.
These incidents are raising a furor among people and spurred the police to crackdown on illegal fixies. The offense is riding a bicycle with inadequate equipment.
For those who don’t know, most brake-less bicycles are inspired by bicycles used for track racing. These bicycles are often called piste bicycles. Piste is a French word meaning track or trail which the bike racing sport has borrowed from downhill skiing. Another name for piste bikes is fixed gear bikes or fixies. Piste bikes have a lean, minimalist look to them as there are no brakes and no gears. The lack of extra cabling and hardware gives them a sleek, stripped down esthetic that has become fashionable among certain groups of bike riders. You might reasonably ask, how are such bicycles stopped if they don’t have brakes. They are stopped by attempting to pedal backwards. This isn’t like the coaster brakes you probably had on your first bike when you were a kid. Without the freewheel hub in the back there is no coasting with fixed gear bicycles. The pedals don’t stop turning until the bike loses momentum or the rider forces it to slow down by pushing backward on the pedals until the bike comes to a complete stop or the wheel locks or the rider crashes into
Though I don’t own a fixed gear bicycle, I have ridden bicycles with inadequate braking ability due to worn pads. The first time I was cut off by a truck driver and had no recourse but to barrel head first into the passenger side door. I credit my helmet for keeping my gray matter inside my skull. Now if my brakes had been better maintained I might have avoided meeting the truck door up close and personal or at least minimized the impact. The second time was a case of me not learning my lesson. After my narrow escape from being road ragu you would think I would have rushed right out and gotten my brakes into tip-top shape. But I didn’t. I approached a corner as a car passed me. Realizing that the driver intended to turn right I attempted to slow down but my brakes just didn’t have enough purchase on the rim to slow me down in time to careen off of the side of the car. It wasn’t the driver’s fault. While she may have cut it a little too close after passing me she did make a legal turn. It was my own fault that I side swiped her door because I didn’t keep my brakes maintained. The Bankisha program pitted a professional keirin racer on a brake-less piste bike against an ordinary mamachari. At around 30 kph the mamachari was able to come to a compete stop within 6 meters but it the piste bike over 21 meters to stop completely. The video is pretty damning evidence. That additional 15 meters could easily take you through a cross walk filled with people into the middle of a busy intersection.
My take on the fixed gear issue is that bicycles equipment should be safe and ridden in the environment they were designed for. Track bikes should stay on the track or on such empty roads that they pose no significant danger to the rider or other road users. (I don’t know of any roads like that in the Tokyo Metropolitan area.) Bikes that take to the streets and sidewalks must have two sets of well maintained brakes. The streets in most Japanese streets are just too crowded with vulnerable road users to take chances.
Additional Resources:
Yomiuri Online (Japanese Text only)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111007-OYT1T01129.htm
http://chubu.yomiuri.co.jp/news_top/111006_2.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/kanagawa/news/20111007-OYT8T00110.htm
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111001-OYT1T00401.htm
Hamamatsu City Donates 834 Bicycles to Earthquake Victims
Translated by Paul Richards from At-S article. Original article in Japanese.
A Towa Transport employee loads a donated bicycle onto a truck.
To help those affected by the Tohoku Earthquake the City of Hamamatsu appealed to its residents to donate bicycles. The City sent the first shipment of 300 bicycles to Sendai on March 21. They arrived in the disaster struck area on the morning of March 22.
To help victims cope with gasoline shortages and damaged roads each of the City’s wards presented 834 bicycles over the two day period of March 19 – March 20. The ward offices collected women’s bicycles and mountain bikes donated by residents. There were even brand new bicycles among the bikes collected.
Donating bicycles to the stricken area was proposed by Towa Transport company president Andou Yoshio. Towa Transport provided three 10 ton trucks to transport the bicycles to Sendai. The transport companies affiliate in Sendai was severely damaged by the tsunami.
On each a sticker saying “Ganbare Tohoku, (Hamamatsu)” (Good luck, Tohoku! From Hamamatsu City) was attached. The remainder of the bicycles will be delivered to affected areas upon request. 200 more bikes will go to Sendai and 100 bikes to Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture. President Andou said that he “wanted to help in the recovery effort”.
Editorial Note: Tokyo Two Wheeling thanks the people of Hamamatsu City and Towa Transport for their generous donations to the earthquake victims. Even in Kodaira City, far from the disaster struck area, we are feeling the pinch of gasoline shortages. When I see cars queuing up for 30 minutes or more for gasoline I appreciate my bicycle. I know that these bicycles will help the recipients begin to put their lives back together after their loss.
By Paul Richards
My son accompanied me on my second day at Cycle Mode. I decided to make this day about him. I let him lead me through the hall from colorful bicycle filled booth to colorful bicycle filled booth. He was greatly impressed with the aero bars in the Pinarelo booth. He liked resting his elbows on the pads and trying to grip the bars. I wonder if he was imagining himself racing. We returned several times to the Strider booth to watch the 2 and 3 year olds walk-riding up and down the bumps on the tiny test course. They were adorable in all their intense seriousness.
TokyoTwoWheeling Jr. lines up to take his turn through the cones at the Cycle Mode.
We walked by the kids area and I showed him all the mountain bikes, cross bikes and road bikes the kids were riding. At first he wasn’t too sure he wanted to do this but after wandering around a bit more and getting some lunch he he screwed up his courage enough to try it. We made it just in time for the last kids school of the show. The kids bike school is run by Weiler School (http://www.voiceblog.jp/ws-japan/). Inspired by cycling in Belgium, Weiler School’s goal is to promote cycling and cycle sports by educating children in bike safety, bike handling schools and introduce them to competitive cycling. The instructor, Blackie Nakajima, kept up a steady flow of talk without being boring. He kept the course moving along at a pace that didn’t leave his young audience behind while not allowing the kids to slow down long enough to become distracted. He had assistance from the Japan Road Race Champion, Miyazawa Takashi , and Inoue Kazuo, Team Skil Shimano rider and participant in the recent Road Race World Championship in Australia.
The class started out by parents helping their kids pick out a bike that fit them. Our choices were mountain bikes, cross bikes and road bikes. After a few tries my son and I found a road bike from Fondriest that wasn’t too bike for him. I didn’t know that anyone made road bikes small enough for a six year old. The kids took a few laps around the track to get used to their bikes. Blackie Sensei and the Weiler School staff had the kids dismount from their bikes and gather around a large computer monitor. Blackie talked the kids through a few slides and videos about early bikes and bike safety. Then wrapped up the talk with Miyazawa-san explaining what road racing is. I am glad that bicycle safety was also taught to the kids. When asked how many wore helmets the majority of them raised their hands. Perhaps, given where they were, this is not so surprising. It may have been preaching to the choir. Still, it never hurts to drill safety into the kids heads. You can never have too much safety.
TokyoTwoWheeling, Jr tests his balance by riding over a plank bridge.
Next the kids were run through some exercises on the bike that were designed to improve the kids’ bike handling skills. Each time the two pro racers demoed what was expected of the kids. The kids started out with just trying to ride between two lines taped on the pavement and stopping behind a line. They moved up from simple lines to a plank bridge the same width of the taped off lane and only a couple inches high. My son had a bit of trouble staying on the boards. The next challenge was riding a zig-zag pattern through cones. The last event of class was the slow race. Kids rode in groups of six. The winner was the person who could ride the slowest from start to finish without putting their foot down. What a unique way to teach balance.
The class was open to kids starting from 2 years old (with lots of help from a parent). I didn’t see any upper limit but the oldest kids were probably 4th or 5th grade most being younger. There was one little boy of about 3 years old on a Strider who just zipped circles around the bigger kids. He was adorable.
After the kids bike school we caught the last few riders in the Cycle Mode time trial. Most of the riders weren’t taking it seriously but it was fun for the kids because they got front row seats about 5 meters closer than the adults. After the last rider we wander among the booths for the last half hour of the show. The floor was nearly empty of attendants. We checked out a recumbent and a pedal cart. We couldn’t test ride them because they had already taken down the test ride course after it was used for the time trial.
We had a great time and are looking forward to next year’s Cycle Mode International.
Cycle Mode International 2010 Ticket
By Paul Richards
The opening day of the Tokyo Cycle Mode International 2010 live up to my anticipation. There were booths from all usual suspects. I made my rounds through the halls in a daze by all the carbon decorating the walls and display stands.
Birthis 222 in the folded configuration. It can be rolled allong the floor in the folded mode so there is no need to carry it.
I was sorely tempted to take some of those high tech racers out for a spin on the test ride track but I had my heart set on trying a recumbent. I spotted a man walking through the hall with a white recumbent with the 27bicycle.com URL on the tube. I started following the man hoping to find the 17bicycle.com booth. I lost him in the crowd but I was delighted when I came to the Progressive Racing booth. They had several ‘bents hanging in display on the racks but there was only one available for test rides. The Saber CM OSS. There was queue for the recumbent. When my turn came I was disappointed that the attendants in the Booth wouldn’t adjust the bike because it was demo bike. I pushed it to the start of the test track and contorted myself into the seat. It wasn’t as bad as trying to get into my car after my wife has been driving but it wasn’t as easy as just throwing my leg over the back wheel either. I slid into the seat and the first problem that I found was that I didn’t know how to get the bicycle started without falling over. Because the bicycle wasn’t adjusted for my legs I found it real hard to get going. I fell over twice within the first 15 meters. It was like being 5 years old and learning to ride a bicycle all over again. I did manage to get rolling on my fourth try. I had the convention staff worried that I would hurt myself or get run over but I ignored them and persevered. As I rolled uncertainly along the first strait away I noticed that the steering was very twitchy. I attribute this to the small 20″ tire in the front. I nearly lost it again as I came to the first U-turn in the course. I recovered my balance and carried on. While waiting for my chance to ride I talked with the representative from Progressive Racing. I mentioned that I heard that recumbents weren’t very good at hills. He agreed with hearsay. As I finished my first lap of the test course I decided to test out the Saber on the ramp. I can confirm that with a recumbent that is not at all well fitted for you and with no more than 2 minutes experience hills are difficult. I almost didn’t make it up the meter and a half high ramp. Slowed down to the point where I almost fell over. I careened wildly down the ramp and back out into the course again for one more lap. I was getting good enough to know that I was gripping the handlebars so tight my hands were getting tired and I was afraid to loosen my grip. This time as I entered the convention hall the staff were waving me off the bike. I decided to follow their directions and managed to dismount without falling over and further embarrassing myself in front of the many onlookers. I wheeled the bike back to the Progressive Racing booth, collected my bags and went searching for my next experience.
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17Bicycle Birthis 222 folding bike. These bikes are rated for 80 kilograms so no big people allowed!
Upon leaving the Progressive booth I spotted another recumbent being wheeled across the hall and followed it. This time I had better luck and made my way to 17bicycle.com booth. Besides a pair recumbents they had a fleet of folding bikes. Unlike other brands, 17Bicycle’s bikes have very small wheels, about 8 1/2 inches in both front and back. These are the oddest looking bicycles. The front chain ring is larger than the wheels and the seat seems to hang out way over the rear wheel. With such small wheels I wouldn’t want to hit a rock or a bump that was more than 2 inches in height. The bicycles look flimsy and I was skeptical about whether they could hold my weight. I was surprised when I lifted one of the bikes by how heavy it felt. It was heavier by far than my Jamis Aurora touring bike. The woman told me the frame was made from steel. I considered that the frame might have no trouble bearing my weight but I still didn’t think the little tires would fare well under the burden. Whe
n I asked the woman doling out bicycles to interested convention attendees she confirmed that the bikes have an 80 kilogram limit. Upon hearing that I decided to forgo a test ride. As these are folding bikes the woman showed me how to fold the bike. It wasn’t the most compact package I have seen but 17Bicycle’s bike make up for there lack of compactness by allowing the bike to be rolled along on its rear wheel. This is fortunate given the heavy weight of these models. These bikes a best suited for short trips around the neighborhood or as a bike to keep in the car for when you find yourself with a free hour during travel for a ride around the hotel. These bicycles might be convenient to ride around the floor of large factories.
I screwed up my courage to try one of the 17Bicycle’s bents. The woman told me to start in the lowest gear. This bike was better sized for my legs and the lower gear for starts made a world of difference. I started out with only a wobble. Right away I noticed that the understeering of the S17 was much easier to handle than the between the knees steering of the bicycle I just tried. On the downside I noted that there wasn’t much clearance between the handlebars and my hips making sharp turns impossible. I suppose it is possible to get a wider set of handlebars. The riding position on the S17 wasn’t nearly as reclined as that on the Saber so I didn’t feel as much fear of falling over. My grip on the handlebars wasn’t as white knuckled either. Apparently the test ride course staff were also more confident in my ability to stay in the saddle as after the second lap they did not wave me off the course. On the third lap I decided to challenge the ramp once again. With confidence I was able to make a running start at it and made it smoothly up and over the ramp with only some slowing near the top. I will admit that climbing the hill is easier on a traditional diamond frame bicycle but it isn’t so bad on a recumbent.
I only got the chance to test ride the two recumbents. I did take in the fashion show. I enjoyed that more than I expected. And my enjoyment stemmed from more than just seeing pretty young women parading around in skin tight Lycra. Some other points of interest at the show were the art bikes on display in the Dahon booth and the mini track bikes at the Keirin booth. I would have liked to try my hand at a fixed gear bike, some high-tech carbon and this really cool 4 wheeled contraption that I saw. Perhaps I will get my chance on Sunday when I go back.
By Paul Richards
Makuhari Messe will be the venue for Cycle Mode International 2010. The operators of this bike show have billed it as the “largest sports bike exhibit and test-ride event in Japan”. The theme of this year’s show is “Each bicycle life needs its own cycle mode.” Despite this trendy, high fashion catch copy the trade show will offer attendees more than just bicycle clothing fashion show. Attendees will have the chance to test ride a wide range of bikes from top foreign and domestic manufacturers over the three days of the show that begins Friday, November 5 and ends Sunday, November 7. For those living in the Kansai area the Tokyo show will be followed by the Osaka show on November 13-14 at Intex Osaka. The promoters promise of variety of events that includes lectures on sports biking for beginners, talk shows with cycling celebrities and top cycling professionals on the international scene. There will be events to please everyone from beginners to hard core enthusiasts.
There are many event going on each day of the show.
Friday 10/5
Kids Area
2:00 – 7:30 Wheeler School
Main Stage
2:30 – 3:00 Cyclewear Fashion Show
4:00-6:55 Bayline Go! Go! in CYCLEMODE International 2010
7:30 – 8:00 Cyclewear Fashion Show
Saturday, 10/6
Kids Area
10:00-5:30 Wheeler School
Main Stage
10:30 – 11:00 Cyclewear Fashion Show
11:30 – 12:00 Sitra & Tsujiura Style
12:30-1:30 How to Enjoy Cycle Road Racing
1:30 – 2:00 “Giro di Italia” Slide Show Presented by Suda Yuzuru
2:30 – 3;30 Charlina 3 “Girl’s Bike Party”
3:30 – 4:00 Cyclewear Fashion Show
4:30 – 5:00 “Sports Bike Love” with Michitaka S
Tamoku Hall (Multi-use Hall)
2:00 – 3:00 The Long Tail Bike Story
Saturday, 10/7
Kids Area
10:00-6:00 Wheeler School
Main Stage
10:30 – 11:00 Cyclewear Fashion Show
11:30 – 12:00 Doronjourno Onda and Riechi Sensei’s “New Cyclist Experience Diary”
12:30 – 1:00 Original Jersey Design Contest
2:30 – 3:30 J Tour Special Stage & Sekai he Tsubasa Bataku Otokotachi
3:30 – 4:00 Cyclewear Fashion Show
Test Ride Course
4:00 – 5:00 Cycle Mode Time Trial
On a side note, the promotional artwork was created by Katsuhiro Otomo, the mind behind such anime classics as “Akira” and “Steam Boy” and an enthusiastic fan of sport bikes. The TV commercials feature Yukiya Arashiro, the two time Tour de France rider and Team Radio Shack member.
For more information you can check out the event web site. http://www.cyclemode.net/english/ or follow on Twitter with the hash tag #cyclemode.
This is My Road: The Shimano Story
Yoshizo Shimano
John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd 2008
Review by Paul Richards
This is My Road: The Shimano Story
I recently finished “This is My Road’ The Shimano Story” by Yoshizo Shimano, one of the forces behind the Shimano bicycle parts and fishing tackle empire. Anyone who cares about bicycles and cycling knows the Shimano name. It quite likely that you have at least one part on your bicycle that was made by Shimano. If you don’t know take a close look at your bicycle. Don’t do it now, though. Finish reading this article first. If you don’t have any Shimano parts on your current bike you probably have owned a bike in the past that had Shimano parts.
The book is a collection of short articles that were as a newspaper series in Nikkei Shinbun. The series chronicles the successes and failures of the three Shimano brothers’ efforts to grow the company founded by their father in 1921 in Sakai, Osaka into a powerhouse in the bicycle industry.
As I read the book I found the story engrossing. Not because of the author’s sterling writing abilities. In fact, it is very clear that the articles were originally written in Japanese then translated directly into English. The writing is simple and without flourish. The sentence structure and flow shows a distinct Japanese quality that clearly identifies the writer’s age, gender and ethnicity. But all that aside, the story is captivating.
Much can be said about Shimano’s story. It can be viewed as a triumph for a Japanese company to break through the soical barriers and prejdices of foreign markets. But more than that it stands as a shining example of how to succeed in business by stressing customer service and quality over cheap and dirty and fly-by-night methods. Granted, this story story is told by someone who was at the top of the corporate pyramid. If you asked someone near the bottom what it was like working for Shimano you might get a different story as the view from the bottom of the hill is different from the view at the top. However, I often fantasize about what it must be like to work at a company with men like Yoshizo Shimano and his brothers at the helm.
I was most impressed by the Shimano’s long term vision for the future and their willingness to presevere even in the face of setbacks, losses and failures. The integrity and sense of accountability with which Shimano Yoshizo and his brothers put into every aspect of their lives is refreshing and awe-inspiring in a climate when both of those qualities have become endangered species. There is many an executive and company owner who would do well by following the Shimanos’ example.
Finally, Shimano laments for the poor state of Bicycle culture in Japan and the influx of low-priced, low-quality bikes. As the president of the Bicycle Association of Japan he has pushed for establishing industry quality and safety standards. The book includes photos of Yoshizo Shimano on his mountain bike. He claims to take to the saddle on a weekly basis even at the advance age of 64. He is pro-bicycle not just because it is his business to be so but because bicycles are in his blood. It is good to know that even though Shimano has become a bicycle mega-corporation that the head of Shimano still has bicycles in his heart.
In the two years since “This is My Road” was published cycling has enjoyed a surge in popularity in Japan due to the efforts of Shimano, the Bicycle Association of Japan, the Japan Cycling Federation, Nihon Jitensha Fukkyu Kyoukai, The Japan Keirin organization and others. I think that the twenty-teens will be the decade when cycling reaches new heights in Japan.
by Paul Richards
The White Shadow awaits its rider's pleasure at Ohashi Bridge on Tamagawa Josui.
I recently read in Time Magazine (April 12, 2010) an article by Stephen Fry about the iPad. In the article he waxes poetic on the relationship between himself and his iPad. He equates it to his relationship with a person or an animal. He writes “if you have an object in your pocket or hand for hours everyday, then your relationship with it is profound, human and emotional.”
You are probably wondering what an iPad has to do with a bicycle and where I am going with this. Well, I don’t spend hours a day with my bicycle but I do spend hours a week with it and Fry is quite right about the human tendency to relate to something as more than just a tool; more than just transportation.
Let me tell you the story of my history with my current bicycle. I bought my bicycle in August of 2009. When I moved back to Japan from where I was living in New Jersey I knew I made the tortured decision to not be bring my bike with me when I moved. Though I had many happy miles on this bike my experiences with it were fraught with frustration. It was nearly 30 years old. The frame was one of last built in the U.S. when being built in the U.S. meant you were getting a thing of quality. But other parts were showing their age and there were frequent repairs and replacements. I no longer wished to keep up the constant upkeep it required. So with mixed feelings I returned to Japan bike-less. Sad to part with an old friend, but hopeful to make a new two-wheeled friend. I spent several weeks going to local bike shops looking at bicycles. My biggest problem was reconciling what I wanted with my budget. I know that bicycles can easily hit the 300 or 400 thousand yen mark for a high-end bike. I also knew my wife would not agree to the purchase of such an expensive bike. She was of the school that thought a good bike was a mamachari that cost no more than 20,000 yen. Also, in my heart of hearts, I believed that a bike of more than 100,000 yen would probably be wasted on me no matter how much I rode it. It certainly wouldn’t be cost effective.
Based on my past experience I set out my criteria for my new ride. My new bike had to have disk brakes because I would be riding in all weather conditions and I had already had one accident in which poor brakes contributed. It needed to be sturdy because, to be honest, I am more than a few pounds over my ideal weight. It had to be practical because I was back in Japan and I knew that I would be using it for more than just recreational rides but would be doing some of that as well. It had to be all purpose because this is Japan and I don’t have room to park one of every kind of bike I would love to own.
Eventually, I decide that Cycle Base Asahi had the best selection of bicycles near my home. I looked at many types of bikes. While I lusted after lightweight road bikes and sturdy but expensive touring bikes that fueled my dreams of riding across Japan, I finally settled on a Giant Seek. Unfortunately, the model I wanted was not to be had anywhere in the CBA chain.
Casting about for an alternative I picked a white Asahi Prec hybrid cross bike. I was glad to finally get my feet back on the pedals and my butt back in the saddle even if it wasn’t my first choice. For the first few weeks of ownership my heart just wasn’t into it. I didn’t have that human connection with this new bike that Stephen Fry talks about.
Ever since high school I have always named my bicycles so I started casting about for a name for my new ride. Traditionally, the color has always been incorporated into the name. I most recently parted company with the Blue Beast and the Silver Streak. In the past there was the Red Rocket, Black Bart and the Golden Goose. I’m sure you get the picture. I had every intention of continuing the color tradition. At the time, my five year old son was into knights thanks to a visit to Medieval Times. White Knight jumped out at me as the obvious chice but somehow the name just didn’t stick. Over a few weeks, the White Knight mutated into the White Shadow. Now, I realized this is a ridiculous and contradictory name. But by this time I had wrapped my thighs around this new ride for a few hundred kilometers and I was starting to form that unique, emotional attachment to it. Though the name has been shortened to Whitey as the days and kilometers have rolled by. If there were official registration papers for bicycles, like a shussei todoke (birth certificate) or a koseki tohon (family registry) for our two-wheeled loved ones the official name of record would be the White Shadow.
I would love to hear from you, my readers, if you have developed the same human connection to your bike. Has it taken on anthropomorphic proportions for you? Have you given your ride a name? Leave a comment if you have or leave me a comment if you haven’t and you just want to tell me that you think I have taken this bike love thing too far.
By Paul Oertel
These bicycles are all for rent from the ward of Setagaya.
Recently I have been hearing a lot about something called bicycle culture. If you read the bicycle industry press and listen to the various bicycle podcasts you will hear all about it in far off places like London, Portland, New York and other cities in North America and Europe. It has gotten me thinking. What is bicycle culture and does Japan have it? I looked up this bit of cultural phenomenon in my favorite authoritative source, Wikipedia, (I have a degree in Useless Trivia and Interesting Miscellany from the University of Wikipedia). Wikipedia tells me that there are two related but different meanings. The first meaning applies to countries that support, ecourage and has high bicycle usage. Everywhere else it refers to subculture and related fashions and characteristics of people who ride bikes. For these people, according to Wikipedia, bicycling is an emotional and ethical choice. It has its own fashion trends, websites, art, music, entertainment and other cultural quirks (like this blog) to inspire and occupy the passionate, cycling faithful.
In the definition of the term it is easy to say that Japan definitely has bicycle culture because of the large segment of the population that uses bicycles as an everyday part of their life. Does Tokyo have a bicycle culture in the second definition of the term? Umm…perhaps a little personal history will shed some light on the answer.
I have always loved cycling. Before I was old enough to drive a car my friends and I rode our bikes everywhere we wanted to go. Like most teenagers, once I learned to drive I forgot about the joy of biking for the perceived convenience of a car and the rite of passage that a driver’s license represented. Riding a bicycle to pick up your date just wasn’t cool. In college I started riding again as a way to get around because most of the cars I owned spent more time broken down in the parking lot than cruising on the road.
When I moved to Japan in 1990 after graduating from college I found a whole nation of people for whom, at least part of their commute, walking or riding a bicycle is a way of life. I was intrigued by this a took to it like a fish to water. I would ride a mile and a bit to the train station in the morning then ride a mile and a bit more home almost everyday of the week. Like my neighbors, I went grocery shopping, rode to the barber, the department store, visited friends and took my children to daycare by bicycle. I rode through snow, rain, typhoons and heatwaves. When the weather was really bad I rode or walked to the nearest bus stop instead of riding all the way to the train station. It was as much an everyday part of life as brushing my teeth. The streets around the train stations were clogged with mamachari, Japan’s ubiquitous utility bike. Nobody wore a helmet, there wasn’t even a hint of lycra on the road and nobody even heard of a fixed gear bike and the folding bike wasn’t even invented yet. Mountain bikes and road bikes were a rarity.
A few years ago I returned to America and settled in northern New Jersey. When I first arrived I was happy to see so many people riding bicycles but I soon realized that for these people, with their expensive biking clothes and high-end bicycles, biking was just a hobby, mere recreation in the way that playing basketball with the guys after work or doing handcrafts in your spare time is for other people, and not a way of living. The bicycle world seemed to be split into two types of people. The very wealth with expensive kit who rode in brightly colored packs and the poor on their secondhand bikes. If you didn’t wear a helmet it was assumed that you were too poor to own a car and were probably dodging the INS.
When I transferred to the New Jersey office I was happy to find a place to live that was close enough to commute to by bicycle. When we arrived here our budget was very tight. I had to choose between buying a second car and buying a bicycle. For us, it just made more economic sense for me to bicycle.
My family and I returned to Japan in August of 2009 and I couldn’t wait to get back on the bike. In the two and a half years I was away the bicycle scene had changed in Japan. I saw more people riding road bikes and cross bikes. Roadies were zipping up and down the streets on their carbon fiber specials, wearing their lycra roadie fashions and irritating drivers. Folding bikes and mini-velos have exploded in popularity. Mountain bikes and BMX bikes are the bike of choice for young boys. Helmets are becoming more common, at least on the heads of roadies and middle-aged men conscious of their own mortality. Toddlers are sporting Thomas the Tank Engine and Hello Kitty brain buckets while sitting in the child seats on their mothers’ mamachari. Teens and mothers still don’t where helmets for fear of messing up their coif and being unfashionable. All in all it is nice to see increase in variety but it makes a little sad. It seems that the seeds of bicycle cliques have been planted.
It seems as though bicycle culture has come to Japan. The incursion of bicycle culture is like an invasive species of flora or fauna. It is threatening to squeeze out the native species of lifestyle cyclists who does not label themselves as a “commuter” or a “fixie” or what have you. The native species of cyclist is just that. A cyclist plain and simple. For them bicycles are just a way of walking faster. You take a bicycle to point B because it just makes sense. Because it is easier and you don’t give it a second thought. Bicycle culture has a tendency labelize, compartmentalize and emotionalize. Instead of being one large family of “cyclists” we become “commuters”, “fixies”, “roadies”, etc. For those who don’t ride a bike I think this kind of pigeon-holing puts barriers up that discourage entry for many people. I think it would better serve Japan as a whole to not jump on the trendy bicycle culture bandwagon that is roaring out of North America, Australia and parts of Europe. It isn’t too late to steer clear of this pothole but pop culture in Japanese cities is a fast moving. My wish is that Japan embrace all cyclists regardless of the width of their wheels or the weight of their frame.
So does Japan have bicycle culture? Yes… and no.
Tokyo Two Wheeling
Tokyo Two Wheeling is a source for cycling information, bicycle culture, news and commentary on cycling.